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Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a fight breaking out on live TV or a performer (or news anchor) having an emotional breakdown, disrobing on live TV, [[DeadlineNews dying]], or saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]]. When this message appears in fiction, usually one of those things is exactly what happened. Actual technical difficulties are vanishingly rare in fictionland.
to:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a fight breaking out on live TV or a performer (or news anchor) having an emotional breakdown, disrobing on live TV, [[DeadlineNews dying]], or saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]]. When this message appears in fiction, usually one of those things is exactly what happened. Actual technical difficulties are vanishingly rare in fictionland.
fictionland, and thanks to many stations now being run by their corporate owners from one hub (for instance, Fox runs many of their owned stations from NewYork, {{Chicago}}, LosAngeles and {{Houston}}), in reality also.
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* BioShock is littered with TVs that show nothing but a flickering test card reading "PLEASE STAND BY", emphasising the theme of Rapture being essentially abandoned.
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* BioShock is littered with TVs [=TVs=] that show nothing but a flickering test card reading "PLEASE STAND BY", emphasising the theme of Rapture being essentially abandoned.
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* The "Commentary by Gernot Hassknecht" in the german political satire show "heute show" ''[[RefugeInAudacity always]]'' ends with this, after Hassknecht starts his inevitable [[ClusterFBomb Cluster F Bombing]].
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Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a fight breaking out on live TV or a performer (or news anchor) having an emotional breakdown, disrobing on live TV, or saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]].
to:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a fight breaking out on live TV or a performer (or news anchor) having an emotional breakdown, disrobing on live TV, [[DeadlineNews dying]], or saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]].
FCC]]. When this message appears in fiction, usually one of those things is exactly what happened. Actual technical difficulties are vanishingly rare in fictionland.
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* BioShock is littered with TVs that show nothing but a flickering test card reading "PLEASE STAND BY", emphasising the theme of Rapture being essentially abandoned.
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* DeadSet features any number of them. In this case the hopelessly non-descript "PLEASE STAND BY" of the messages serve to underline just how quickly and violently overrun everything was.
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* DeadSet features any number of them. In this case the hopelessly non-descript "PLEASE STAND BY" of the message serves to underline how quickly and violently overrun everything was.
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Changed line(s) 57 (click to see context) from:
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* DeadSet features any number of them. In this case the hopelessly non-descript "PLEASE STAND BY" of the message serves to underline how quickly and violently overrun everything was.
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* ''Network'' has one of these after Howard Beale sarcastically announces that he's going to commit suicide on camera. Technicians and directors start asking him what's going on; he replies that he can't hear what they're saying, they have to physically remove him from behind the desk, and just as the mayhem really starts the PLEASE STAND BY card flips up.
Added DiffLines:
[[AC:{{Real Life}}]]
* During times of extreme political turmoil, European radio stations have been known to switch to an all-classical all-the-time format.
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Adding instance of trope in Final Fantasy VIII.
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* A move named "Devour" in ''FinalFantasy VIII'' involves characters running up to the target of the attack and... a picture of a pleasant, flower-covered field displaying, along with a scrolling message indicating technical difficulties. After a few seconds, the screen changes back to scene of the fight, where the target has mysteriously vanished.
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Changed line(s) 8,9 (click to see context) from:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a performer having a breakdown or a reporter saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]].
to:
On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a fight breaking out on live TV or a performer (or news anchor) having a breakdown an emotional breakdown, disrobing on live TV, or a reporter saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]].
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*In one rather hilarious example on BillNyeTheScienceGuy this happens when Bill flicks a red-kneed tarantula onto the cameraman, causing the cameraman to drop the camera onto the floor. The cameraman screams "THE TARANTULA'S CRAWLING IN MY PANTS!!" while the trope name is broadcast on the screen.
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**Another ''SNL'' example: on the season 35 episode hosted by Drew Barrymore (for the sixth time, making her the show's most frequent female celebrity host), there was a sketch featuring a cooking show on the roof of a building. The show cuts to a "Please Stand By" placard every time the show hosts (played by Drew Barrymore and Andy Samberg) are attacked by crows (which are attracted to the bread crumbs the two are using for chicken parmigiana).
***'''Another''' ''SNL'' example: the TV Funhouse sketch "Conspiracy Theory Rock" immediately cut to a "Please Stand By" card (with the NBC peacock sweating nervously) as the song continued to accuse NBC of being GE's lackey. The song even pointed out that this trope is used as a cheap way to censor out anything sponsors or the network may deem inappropriate ("'Please stand by'/'Please stand by'/It means there's technical difficulties, supposedly/So if you see/A "Please Stand By"/You know it's all part of GE's big lie...")
***'''Another''' ''SNL'' example: the TV Funhouse sketch "Conspiracy Theory Rock" immediately cut to a "Please Stand By" card (with the NBC peacock sweating nervously) as the song continued to accuse NBC of being GE's lackey. The song even pointed out that this trope is used as a cheap way to censor out anything sponsors or the network may deem inappropriate ("'Please stand by'/'Please stand by'/It means there's technical difficulties, supposedly/So if you see/A "Please Stand By"/You know it's all part of GE's big lie...")
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* ''Technical Difficulties'' by Julien-K, a [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein rather indistinct]] song done for ''Transformers''.
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* ''Technical Difficulties'' "Technical Difficulties" by Julien-K, a [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein rather indistinct]] song done for ''Transformers''.
''{{Transformers}}''.
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Changed line(s) 53 (click to see context) from:
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* ''Technical Difficulties'' by Julien-K, a [[SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein rather indistinct]] song done for ''Transformers''.
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Changed line(s) 49,50 (click to see context) from:
* A Saturday Night Live sketch involved a children's show called "Jingleheimer Junction", with characters personifying [[FunWithAcronyms Friendship, Unity, Caring, and Kindness]]. And yes, they all had their initials written on them. Naturally, this trope was used repeatedly.
to:
* A Saturday Night Live ''SaturdayNightLive'' sketch involved a children's show called "Jingleheimer Junction", with characters personifying [[FunWithAcronyms Friendship, Unity, Caring, and Kindness]]. And yes, they all had their initials written on them. Naturally, this trope was used repeatedly.
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Changed line(s) 49 (click to see context) from:
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* A Saturday Night Live sketch involved a children's show called "Jingleheimer Junction", with characters personifying [[FunWithAcronyms Friendship, Unity, Caring, and Kindness]]. And yes, they all had their initials written on them. Naturally, this trope was used repeatedly.
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Changed line(s) 51,52 (click to see context) from:
* Used repeatedly in the intro piece "[=SCG03=] Special Report" to the {{Lordi}} album ''TheArockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
to:
* Used repeatedly in the intro piece "[=SCG03=] Special Report" to the {{Lordi}} album ''TheArockalypse'' ''The Arockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
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[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
[[AC:{{Comic Books}}]]
* Used in ''TheSandman'' when Dr. Destiny makes the world go crazy and a kids show host encourage children to commit suicide.
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* The original ''{{Godzilla}}'' has this when a radio newsreader is killed. Interestingly, we see the scene from his perspective.
* A humorous example in the film ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'': Lena and her friend Börje are about to make love in her archive room. There's no bed, so they drag in a mattress and some sheets and pillows from another room, and make all sorts of elaborate preparations. At the moment they actually begin intercourse, a test pattern flips up on the screen. Cut to a pleasant looking announcer fixing her hair, not realizing she's already on camera. She says "We regret that we have had some technical difficulties owing to erection fault" (or "faulty coupling", depending on the translation).
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* A humorous example in the film ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'': Lena and her friend Börje are about to make love in her archive room. There's no bed, so they drag in a mattress and some sheets and pillows from another room, and make all sorts of elaborate preparations. At the moment they actually begin intercourse, a test pattern flips up on the screen. Cut to a pleasant looking announcer fixing her hair, not realizing she's already on camera. She says "We regret that we have had some technical difficulties owing to erection fault" (or "faulty coupling", depending on the translation).
[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
[[AC:{{Live-Action TV}}]]
Deleted line(s) 31,37 (click to see context) :
* OrsonWelles' 1938 Mercury Theatre dramatization of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'' has one of these, after announcer Carl Phillips is burned up by the Martian heat ray.
* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, a bird flying into powerlines, and Kent Brockman wrapped in a straitjacket with a cuckoo clock bird coming out of his head.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode where the graphic is a drunken cameraman.
* ''TheCritic'' has many ridiculous technical difficulty signs, such as "Be right bark!"
* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
* The original ''{{Godzilla}}'' has this when a radio newsreader is killed. Interestingly, we see the scene from his perspective.
* Played for drama in ''ModernWarfare 2'', where the intro sequence to the mission "Of Their Own Accord" is an emergency broadcast system alert containing evacuation instructions [[spoiler:for residents of Washington, D.C.]].
* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, a bird flying into powerlines, and Kent Brockman wrapped in a straitjacket with a cuckoo clock bird coming out of his head.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode where the graphic is a drunken cameraman.
* ''TheCritic'' has many ridiculous technical difficulty signs, such as "Be right bark!"
* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
* The original ''{{Godzilla}}'' has this when a radio newsreader is killed. Interestingly, we see the scene from his perspective.
* Played for drama in ''ModernWarfare 2'', where the intro sequence to the mission "Of Their Own Accord" is an emergency broadcast system alert containing evacuation instructions [[spoiler:for residents of Washington, D.C.]].
Changed line(s) 41,47 (click to see context) from:
** {{Lampshaded}} (I think?) in ''Network'' as Howard Beale announces on nationwide TV that he will kill himself on the air next week. At first the studio staff don't realize he's said it, mumbling gossip while the commercial is on; then panic, they open the studio mike to communicate with Howard, the immortal words "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" go out to 67 affiliates, they come back from commercial and Howard is being pulled away from his desk by the floor crew -- TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PLEASE STAND BY. The audience in the theater where I first saw this laughed their asses off.
* TheSpoonyExperiment combines this with HeroicBSOD when Spoony sees the VHS case for ''{{Highlander}} 2'' call itself "the smartest sci-fi thriller since ''BladeRunner''."
* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")
* Used in ''TheSandman'' when Dr. Destiny makes the world go crazy and a kids show host encourage children to commit suicide.
* Happens on ''TotalDramaIsland'' ShowWithinAShow ''Celibrity Manhunt''. As Eva angrily throws objects at the covering hosts we get a black and white, "Technical Difficulties" screen... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Of Blainley getting choked by the Drama machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock]] [[SoundtrackDissonance as jazzy Elevator music plays in the background.]]
* Early in ''ApeEscape 3'', Specter's taunting message to the heroes is interrupted by Dr. Tomoki's overdramatic posturing. When Specter loses his patience, the screen briefly cuts to a "Technical Difficulties" card showing a sad monkey.
* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has occasionally cut to a RelaxOVision screen while music from ''{{Pokemon}}'' plays in the background. See ''CountdownToFinalCrisis Pt. 1'' for an example.
* TheSpoonyExperiment combines this with HeroicBSOD when Spoony sees the VHS case for ''{{Highlander}} 2'' call itself "the smartest sci-fi thriller since ''BladeRunner''."
* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")
* Used in ''TheSandman'' when Dr. Destiny makes the world go crazy and a kids show host encourage children to commit suicide.
* Happens on ''TotalDramaIsland'' ShowWithinAShow ''Celibrity Manhunt''. As Eva angrily throws objects at the covering hosts we get a black and white, "Technical Difficulties" screen... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Of Blainley getting choked by the Drama machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock]] [[SoundtrackDissonance as jazzy Elevator music plays in the background.]]
* Early in ''ApeEscape 3'', Specter's taunting message to the heroes is interrupted by Dr. Tomoki's overdramatic posturing. When Specter loses his patience, the screen briefly cuts to a "Technical Difficulties" card showing a sad monkey.
* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has occasionally cut to a RelaxOVision screen while music from ''{{Pokemon}}'' plays in the background. See ''CountdownToFinalCrisis Pt. 1'' for an example.
to:
** {{Lampshaded}} (I think?) in ''Network'' ''{{Network}}'' as Howard Beale announces on nationwide TV that he will kill himself on the air next week. At first the studio staff don't realize he's said it, mumbling gossip while the commercial is on; then panic, they open the studio mike to communicate with Howard, the immortal words "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" go out to 67 affiliates, they come back from commercial and Howard is being pulled away from his desk by the floor crew -- TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PLEASE STAND BY. The audience in the theater where I first saw this laughed their asses off.\n* TheSpoonyExperiment combines this with HeroicBSOD when Spoony sees the VHS case for ''{{Highlander}} 2'' call itself "the smartest sci-fi thriller since ''BladeRunner''."\n* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")\n* Used in ''TheSandman'' when Dr. Destiny makes the world go crazy and a kids show host encourage children to commit suicide. \n* Happens on ''TotalDramaIsland'' ShowWithinAShow ''Celibrity Manhunt''. As Eva angrily throws objects at the covering hosts we get a black and white, "Technical Difficulties" screen... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Of Blainley getting choked by the Drama machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock]] [[SoundtrackDissonance as jazzy Elevator music plays in the background.]]\n* Early in ''ApeEscape 3'', Specter's taunting message to the heroes is interrupted by Dr. Tomoki's overdramatic posturing. When Specter loses his patience, the screen briefly cuts to a "Technical Difficulties" card showing a sad monkey.\n* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has occasionally cut to a RelaxOVision screen while music from ''{{Pokemon}}'' plays in the background. See ''CountdownToFinalCrisis Pt. 1'' for an example.
Deleted line(s) 49,52 (click to see context) :
* Used repeatedly in the intro piece ''[=SCG03=] Special Report'' to the ''{{Lordi}}'' album ''TheArockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television" had one after a child actor robot breaks down (literally) during an episode of ''All My Circuits''. The technical difficulties card had a broken robot shrugging his shoulders and the words, "Oops! Broken Actor" and the show cuts to an episode of ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad'' (which Fry remarks, "...[[SeasonalRot has been going downhill since season three]]").
* A humorous example in the film ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'': Lena and her friend Börje are about to make love in her archive room. There's no bed, so they drag in a mattress and some sheets and pillows from another room, and make all sorts of elaborate preparations. At the moment they actually begin intercourse, a test pattern flips up on the screen. Cut to a pleasant looking announcer fixing her hair, not realizing she's already on camera. She says "We regret that we have had some technical difficulties owing to erection fault" (or "faulty coupling", depending on the translation).
* HomestarRunner has used this both ways. In the Strong Bad Email "pizzaz", Strong Bad is interviewing himself (don't ask; it's that kind of cartoon), and at one point the interviewee gets mad and shouts "This interview is OVER!" Cut to the card shown at the top of the screen. Later, the cartoon "Fall Float Parade" cut to a similar card with a turkey instead of The Cheat when the Marshie balloon crashed into the hosts' booth (and, presumably, broadcast equipment).
* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television" had one after a child actor robot breaks down (literally) during an episode of ''All My Circuits''. The technical difficulties card had a broken robot shrugging his shoulders and the words, "Oops! Broken Actor" and the show cuts to an episode of ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad'' (which Fry remarks, "...[[SeasonalRot has been going downhill since season three]]").
* A humorous example in the film ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'': Lena and her friend Börje are about to make love in her archive room. There's no bed, so they drag in a mattress and some sheets and pillows from another room, and make all sorts of elaborate preparations. At the moment they actually begin intercourse, a test pattern flips up on the screen. Cut to a pleasant looking announcer fixing her hair, not realizing she's already on camera. She says "We regret that we have had some technical difficulties owing to erection fault" (or "faulty coupling", depending on the translation).
* HomestarRunner has used this both ways. In the Strong Bad Email "pizzaz", Strong Bad is interviewing himself (don't ask; it's that kind of cartoon), and at one point the interviewee gets mad and shouts "This interview is OVER!" Cut to the card shown at the top of the screen. Later, the cartoon "Fall Float Parade" cut to a similar card with a turkey instead of The Cheat when the Marshie balloon crashed into the hosts' booth (and, presumably, broadcast equipment).
Changed line(s) 55 (click to see context) from:
----
to:
[[AC:{{Music}}]]
* Used repeatedly in the intro piece "[=SCG03=] Special Report" to the {{Lordi}} album ''TheArockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
[[AC:Radio]]
* OrsonWelles' 1938 Mercury Theatre dramatization of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'' has one of these, after announcer Carl Phillips is burned up by the Martian heat ray.
[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* Played for drama in ''ModernWarfare 2'', where the intro sequence to the mission "Of Their Own Accord" is an emergency broadcast system alert containing evacuation instructions [[spoiler:for residents of Washington, D.C.]].
* Early in ''ApeEscape 3'', Specter's taunting message to the heroes is interrupted by Dr. Tomoki's overdramatic posturing. When Specter loses his patience, the screen briefly cuts to a "Technical Difficulties" card showing a sad monkey.
[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]
* TheSpoonyExperiment combines this with HeroicBSOD when Spoony sees the VHS case for ''{{Highlander}} 2'' call itself "the smartest sci-fi thriller since ''BladeRunner''."
* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")
* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has occasionally cut to a RelaxOVision screen while music from ''{{Pokemon}}'' plays in the background. See ''CountdownToFinalCrisis Pt. 1'' for an example.
* HomestarRunner has used this both ways. In the Strong Bad Email "pizzaz", Strong Bad is interviewing himself (don't ask; it's that kind of cartoon), and at one point the interviewee gets mad and shouts "This interview is OVER!" Cut to the card shown at the top of the screen. Later, the cartoon "Fall Float Parade" cut to a similar card with a turkey instead of The Cheat when the Marshie balloon crashed into the hosts' booth (and, presumably, broadcast equipment).
[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, a bird flying into powerlines, and Kent Brockman wrapped in a straitjacket with a cuckoo clock bird coming out of his head.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode where the graphic is a drunken cameraman.
* ''TheCritic'' has many ridiculous technical difficulty signs, such as "Be right bark!"
* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
* Happens on ''TotalDramaIsland'' ShowWithinAShow ''Celibrity Manhunt''. As Eva angrily throws objects at the covering hosts we get a black and white, "Technical Difficulties" screen... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Of Blainley getting choked by the Drama machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock]] [[SoundtrackDissonance as jazzy Elevator music plays in the background.]]
* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television" had one after a child actor robot breaks down (literally) during an episode of ''All My Circuits''. The technical difficulties card had a broken robot shrugging his shoulders and the words, "Oops! Broken Actor" and the show cuts to an episode of ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad'' (which Fry remarks, "...[[SeasonalRot has been going downhill since season three]]").
----
* Used repeatedly in the intro piece "[=SCG03=] Special Report" to the {{Lordi}} album ''TheArockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
[[AC:Radio]]
* OrsonWelles' 1938 Mercury Theatre dramatization of ''TheWarOfTheWorlds'' has one of these, after announcer Carl Phillips is burned up by the Martian heat ray.
[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* Played for drama in ''ModernWarfare 2'', where the intro sequence to the mission "Of Their Own Accord" is an emergency broadcast system alert containing evacuation instructions [[spoiler:for residents of Washington, D.C.]].
* Early in ''ApeEscape 3'', Specter's taunting message to the heroes is interrupted by Dr. Tomoki's overdramatic posturing. When Specter loses his patience, the screen briefly cuts to a "Technical Difficulties" card showing a sad monkey.
[[AC:{{Web Original}}]]
* TheSpoonyExperiment combines this with HeroicBSOD when Spoony sees the VHS case for ''{{Highlander}} 2'' call itself "the smartest sci-fi thriller since ''BladeRunner''."
* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")
* [[AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has occasionally cut to a RelaxOVision screen while music from ''{{Pokemon}}'' plays in the background. See ''CountdownToFinalCrisis Pt. 1'' for an example.
* HomestarRunner has used this both ways. In the Strong Bad Email "pizzaz", Strong Bad is interviewing himself (don't ask; it's that kind of cartoon), and at one point the interviewee gets mad and shouts "This interview is OVER!" Cut to the card shown at the top of the screen. Later, the cartoon "Fall Float Parade" cut to a similar card with a turkey instead of The Cheat when the Marshie balloon crashed into the hosts' booth (and, presumably, broadcast equipment).
[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, a bird flying into powerlines, and Kent Brockman wrapped in a straitjacket with a cuckoo clock bird coming out of his head.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode where the graphic is a drunken cameraman.
* ''TheCritic'' has many ridiculous technical difficulty signs, such as "Be right bark!"
* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
* Happens on ''TotalDramaIsland'' ShowWithinAShow ''Celibrity Manhunt''. As Eva angrily throws objects at the covering hosts we get a black and white, "Technical Difficulties" screen... [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Of Blainley getting choked by the Drama machine while Josh looks on in melodramatic shock]] [[SoundtrackDissonance as jazzy Elevator music plays in the background.]]
* The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television" had one after a child actor robot breaks down (literally) during an episode of ''All My Circuits''. The technical difficulties card had a broken robot shrugging his shoulders and the words, "Oops! Broken Actor" and the show cuts to an episode of ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad'' (which Fry remarks, "...[[SeasonalRot has been going downhill since season three]]").
----
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* In the ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' episode "Severed Dreames", an ISN reporter interrupts the news broadcast to announce that several Earth colonies have seceded in protest of President Clark's bombing of Mars and that armed troops have invaded ISN headquarters. An explosion is heard, then the broadcast goes off the air and is replaced by a network logo (without an explicit "Technical Difficulties" message, but with the same implications).
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* In the ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' episode "Severed Dreames", Dreams", an ISN reporter interrupts the news broadcast to announce that several Earth colonies have seceded in protest of President Clark's bombing of Mars and that armed troops have invaded ISN headquarters. An explosion is heard, then the broadcast goes off the air and is replaced by a network logo (without an explicit "Technical Difficulties" message, but with the same implications).
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typo
Changed line(s) 53,54 (click to see context) from:
* In the ''[[Babylon5 Babylon 5]]'' episode "Severed Dreames", an ISN reporter interrupts the news broadcast to announce that several Earth colonies have seceded in protest of President Clark's bombing of Mars and that armed troops have invaded ISN headquarters. An explosion is heard, then the broadcast goes off the air and is replaced by a network logo (without an explicit "Technical Difficulties" message, but with the same implications).
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* In the ''[[Babylon5 ''[[BabylonFive Babylon 5]]'' episode "Severed Dreames", an ISN reporter interrupts the news broadcast to announce that several Earth colonies have seceded in protest of President Clark's bombing of Mars and that armed troops have invaded ISN headquarters. An explosion is heard, then the broadcast goes off the air and is replaced by a network logo (without an explicit "Technical Difficulties" message, but with the same implications).
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* In the ''[[Babylon5 Babylon 5]]'' episode "Severed Dreames", an ISN reporter interrupts the news broadcast to announce that several Earth colonies have seceded in protest of President Clark's bombing of Mars and that armed troops have invaded ISN headquarters. An explosion is heard, then the broadcast goes off the air and is replaced by a network logo (without an explicit "Technical Difficulties" message, but with the same implications).
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*** This is a parody of an alleged legend that {{CNN}} has a tape narrated by Ted Turner over nature scenery ready to roll to close out world history just in case of global annihilation.
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* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in real life with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbucks's suicide]]: after she shot herself, the prevailing camera stayed focused on her while slowly fading to black. The camerawoman simply could not believe this wasn't a stunt or gag on Christine's part.
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* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in real life with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbucks's suicide]]: after she shot herself, the prevailing camera stayed focused on her while slowly fading to black. The camerawoman simply could not believe this wasn't a stunt or gag on Christine's part. part, but more likely because the producer of a 10am show in Sarasota in the early 70's usually doesn't get a lesson on "What to do if your host shoots themselves on the air".
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* HomestarRunner has used this both ways. In the Strong Bad Email "pizzaz", Strong Bad is interviewing himself (don't ask; it's that kind of cartoon), and at one point the interviewee gets mad and shouts "This interview is OVER!" Cut to the card shown at the top of the screen. Later, the cartoon "Fall Float Parade" cut to a similar card with a turkey instead of The Cheat when the Marshie balloon crashed into the hosts' booth (and, presumably, broadcast equipment).
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* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in real life with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbucks's suicide]]: after she shot herself, the prevailing camera stayed focused on her while slowly fading to black.
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* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in real life with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Chubbuck Christine Chubbucks's suicide]]: after she shot herself, the prevailing camera stayed focused on her while slowly fading to black. The camerawoman simply could not believe this wasn't a stunt or gag on Christine's part.
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** {{Lampshaded}} (I think?) in ''Network'' as Howard Beale announces on nationwide TV that he will kill himself on the air next week. At first the studio staff don't realize he's said it, mumbling gossip while the commercial is on; then panic, they open the studio mike to communicate with Howard, the immortal words "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON" go out to 67 affiliates, they come back from commercial and Howard is being pulled away from his desk by the floor crew -- TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PLEASE STAND BY. The audience in the theater where I first saw this laughed their asses off.
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* A humorous example in the film ''I Am Curious (Yellow)'': Lena and her friend Börje are about to make love in her archive room. There's no bed, so they drag in a mattress and some sheets and pillows from another room, and make all sorts of elaborate preparations. At the moment they actually begin intercourse, a test pattern flips up on the screen. Cut to a pleasant looking announcer fixing her hair, not realizing she's already on camera. She says "We regret that we have had some technical difficulties owing to erection fault" (or "faulty coupling", depending on the translation).
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* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[TheBarney Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
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* Happens on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[TheBarney [[BarneyAndFriends Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
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*The ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed On Television" had one after a child actor robot breaks down (literally) during an episode of ''All My Circuits''. The technical difficulties card had a broken robot shrugging his shoulders and the words, "Oops! Broken Actor" and the show cuts to an episode of ''Everybody Loves Hypnotoad'' (which Fry remarks, "...[[SeasonalRot has been going downhill since season three]]").
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On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a performer having a breakdown.
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On other occasions, the message is used even if the difficulty is not technical in nature, such as a performer having a breakdown.
breakdown or a reporter saying something so controversial that it will cause backlash from the [[MoralGuardians network censors or, worse, the FCC]].
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* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included an intoxicated cameraman, a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, and on one occasion, after a jeremiad by Brockman, a picture of him as a cuckoo clock.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween episode.
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* This has happened several times during [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]]'s news reports on ''TheSimpsons'', with technical difficulties graphics that included an intoxicated cameraman, a puppy that has pulled a plug on the wall, a bird flying into powerlines, and on one occasion, after Kent Brockman wrapped in a jeremiad by Brockman, a picture of him as straitjacket with a cuckoo clock.
clock bird coming out of his head.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloweenepisode.episode where the graphic is a drunken cameraman.
** Also happens to Krusty the Clown's show during the "[[ZombieApocalypse Dial Z For Zombies]]" segment of the third Halloween
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* Happens in a ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[TheBarney Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming behind the caption. [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
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* Happens in a on the ''BeavisAndButthead'' episode "Tornado" where B&B are watching "Barney Bakes a Cake". [[TheBarney Barney the Dinosaur]] sets himself on fire and we hear him [the guy in the highly flammable Barney suit] screaming "Ow, ow! I'm burning! Kids, help! This sucks!" behind the caption. caption (the EditedForSyndication version immediately cut to the technical difficulties card featuring a blue Big Bird rather than show Barney's hands catching fire and shortened his line to "Kids, help! This sucks!") [[CatchPhrase Heh-heh. Heh-heh]].
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* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straight-jacket.
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* TheNostalgiaCritic sometimes switches to this when he really loses it; the "Technical Difficulties" screen shows him in a straight-jacket.straitjacket (much like the one on the season five ''Simpsons'' episode "Marge on the Lam.")
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* Used repeatedly in the intro piece ''[=SCG03=] Special Report'' to the ''{{Lordi}}'' album ''TheArockalypse'' as reporters are clearly taken out by monsters while on air.
